Deputies of DTP face a barrage on immunities
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Doğan News Agency
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Ocak 13, 2009 00:00
DİYARBAKIR - Twenty deputies from the Pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party, or DTP, face a total of 97 applications to have their parliamentary immunity revoked for reasons that vary from asking for water in Kurdish to playing Kurdish songs.
According to reports, 20 of the 21 DTP deputies face between two and six separate applications to withdraw their immunity from prosecution. All applications were filed for actions that took place during the election campaign before the July 22, 2007 general elections and after. Only Akın Birdal, DTP’s Diyarbakır deputy, has no such application against him.
The applications were sent to Parliament’s Constitution Commission, which in turn postponed all the applications to the end of the parliamentary term.
One of the most surprising of the applications was filed against deputies from the Muş province, Nuri Yaman and Sırrı Sakık.
Both are said to have violated the Political Parties Law, which bans the use of Kurdish. Sakık is said to have asked for water in Kurdish while on the campaign trail and Yaman was said to have saluted a crowd in Kurdish before proceeding with his speech in Turkish.
Diyarbakır deputy Selahattin Demirtaş allowed a Kurdish song, "Le Amede," to be played while he was opening his election campaign bureau. The DTP faces other complaints of praising a terrorist group and a terrorist leader for statements about the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, and its jailed leader Abdullah Öcalan. Some are also accused of promoting the PKK.
The applications were sent to Parliament’s Constitution Commission, which in turn postponed all the applications to the end of the parliamentary term.
One of the most surprising of the applications was filed against deputies from the Muş province, Nuri Yaman and Sırrı Sakık.
Both are said to have violated the Political Parties Law, which bans the use of Kurdish. Sakık is said to have asked for water in Kurdish while on the campaign trail and Yaman was said to have saluted a crowd in Kurdish before proceeding with his speech in Turkish.
Diyarbakır deputy Selahattin Demirtaş allowed a Kurdish song, "Le Amede," to be played while he was opening his election campaign bureau. The DTP faces other complaints of praising a terrorist group and a terrorist leader for statements about the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, and its jailed leader Abdullah Öcalan. Some are also accused of promoting the PKK.